Mohan Narla of the Life Sciences Division was the toast of the
crowd gathered at the Bldg. 66 Auditorium last Friday to celebrate the
achievements of the Lab's Human Genome Center under his stewardship. Narla, who
served as the Center's acting director from 1994 until this month, is credited
with providing the leadership that helped transform what had been a struggling
program into one of the nation's most successful.

"I want to call your attention to the pivotal role played by Mohan Narla in the
success of our Human Genome Center," said Berkeley Lab director Charles Shank
in a message read to attendees of the celebration by Deputy Director Pier
Oddone. Indeed, all of the speakers at the morning-long event, which included
LSD Director Mina Bissell, new HGC Director Mike Palazzolo (see
Currents, June 7), and HGC leaders, began their remarks with
acknowledgment of Narla's contributions. All were especially mindful of the
stability he brought to the program.

"All of our success has been achieved from within," Bissell said. "With little
help from the outside, Mohan worked with our own people to put our Human Genome
Center on a tract that has made it one of the top genome programs in the
country."

Palazzolo also praised Narla's stewardship. "Mohan did a selfless thing at the
prime of his scientific career. He took the time to marshal the resources here
at the Human Genome Center, said the future is in sequencing, and pointed us in
that direction. We are healthy today because of it."

He noted that HGC researchers are now sequencing at the rate of 500,000 base
pairs a month, which is more than what they could do in an entire year prior to
Narla's acting directorship. To date, the HGC has sequenced nearly 5.5 million
base pairs of DNA (human and drosophila), a total that is second in the world
only to the base pairs sequenced for the nematode genome by the collaboration
between Washington University in St. Louis and the United Kingdom's Sanger
Centre.

It is in the sequences of the base pairs of nucleotides that make up DNA that
the genetic code of life is written. The full complement of DNA needed to
create any individual organism is called a genome. The human genome is one of
the most complex (though not the largest), made up of three billion base pairs
which are organized into 23 chromosome pairs. It is the goal of the Human
Genome Project to sequence all three billion base pairs, determine which are
used in genes, and map their location along the chromosomes. The project, which
is jointly sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National
Institutes of Health, has been called "biology's flight to the moon."

With guidance from Narla, Berkeley Lab's HGC shifted from its original focus on
mapping chromosome 21 to developing and implementing a cost-effective and
accurate "high throughput DNA sequencing" capability. Though Narla's vision got
the ball rolling, credit for the Center's subsequent success is shared by all
of its component programs.

Chris Martin, who now leads the HGC's sequencing group, discussed the role
played by the "directed approach" to sequencing which he and Palazzolo
developed with other members of the group. Unlike the strategy followed by most
genome groups, in which random coverage is expected to yield a complete
sequence, the directed approach employs "sequencing templates" that have been
mapped to a resolution of 30 base pairs. This greatly reduces the labor and
difficulty for genome sequencing.

"In a single year, we have tripled our productivity per staff member," Martin
said. The goal of the Human Genome Project is to complete the sequencing task
by the year 2005.

Everyone associated with the genome project acknowledges the critical
importance of automation. In her introduction of Joe Jaklevic, leader of the
HGC's automation group, Bissell expressed admiration for what he and his group
have accomplished.

"Joe has been the embodiment of the effort to bring high-technology into the
life sciences," she said. "One of the major reasons that our Human Genome
Center has been so successful is the incredible work of the automation
group."

In his presentation, Jaklevic used a chart to graphically illustrate that more
than 80 percent of the base-pairs sequenced at the HGC have been achieved in
the past couple of years. Berkeley Lab's HGC was established in 1987.

Among the innovative technologies introduced to the Center by the automation
group, Jaklevic cited such examples as the high-speed automated colony picker
and arrayer, the CCD system for digital image processing, the high-speed
thermocycler for PCR assays, and the DNA preparation robot.

"Most of our increased production rate has come from eliminating bottlenecks in
the (sequencing) process," Jaklevic said. "DNA preparation has been a huge
bottleneck." He noted that a sequencing rate of 20 million base pairs a year, a
goal envisioned by our HGC, requires a lab to be able to prepare five
microtiter plates of DNA material a day.

"Our DNA prep robot can do five plates in a couple of hours," he said.

The other speakers that morning were Bruce Kimmel, who spoke on the future of
genome research, Edward Rubin, who heads the HGC's biology group, Frank
Eeckman, who heads the informatics group, and Gerald Rubin, who heads the
drosophila sequencing center. The message was that substantial progress has
been made and the pace is rapidly picking up.

"We (at Berkeley Lab) have become the lead sequencing center for DOE, and we
are really going to build an automated sequencing center--which is what DOE was
charged to do," Palazzolo told the audience. "Today is a celebration!"

CAPTION: Mohan Narla has played a pivotal role in the success of the
Center.

Director Charles Shank will present his annual state-of-the-laboratory address
from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, July 11, in the Bldg. 50 Auditorium.

The Director will review some of the scientific highlights from this past year
and discuss key programmatic directions for the future. He will also comment on
budget prospects, new operational developments, and other matters of interest
to the Laboratory community.

All employees are invited to attend. A live remote video feed will be provided
in the Bldg. 66 Auditorium.

Berkeley Lab's Rob Johnson, who has worked for years to connect
the capabilities of Lab researchers to national scientific initiatives, is now
working to catalyze similar interconnections between the Lab and partnering
agencies in Washington, D.C.

As of June 1, Johnson assumed the role of head for the Lab's Washington office,
while maintaining his duties as head of the Programmatic Initiatives Support
Group. He succeeds David Dragnich, the first manager of Berkeley Lab's Maryland
Avenue headquarters, who resigned to become a consultant in the private
sector.

"My vision for the office to best support our researchers is: `One lab, two
sites,'" Johnson said. "We're in a transition from a division-based office to a
lab-based office. With funding for science under attack, we need to be more
effective in developing productive working relationships with DOE and other
agencies--a daunting task when the program managers and our researchers are
located on opposite coasts. The Washington site enables researchers to be much
more responsive."

He said Berkeley Lab divisions will be encouraged to use the office much like
the Energy and Environment Division has done successfully since it established
a Washington presence in 1993. That includes using the facility as a base of
operations during work trips to Washington and tapping Johnson's expertise to
nurture interest in prospective programs.

"Our location also allows us to carry out activities helpful to the agencies
and decision-makers by having presentations in which we expose people to the
value of the science," said Pier Oddone, deputy director for Research. The
office, located just blocks away from DOE's Forrestal Building, is equipped for
both on-site meetings and teleconferencing.

Oddone described Johnson as the "ideal person" to carry out the assignment. His
15 years with Berkeley Lab has given him "a deep knowledge of lab capabilities,
and a sense of how to connect those capabilities to the research interests of
sponsors," Oddone said.

Johnson began here in 1981 as a staff scientist in the Accelerator and Fusion
Research Division. After serving for almost two years as AFRD's assistant
division director, he became assistant deputy director (1984-89) prior to
becoming leader of the initiatives group. He also served in 1989-90 as
associate director of the Center for Particle Astrophysics at UC Berkeley,
which he helped establish.

Working in support of Lab scientists, he was involved in the initial
development of major Berkeley Lab programs such as the Advanced Light Source
and ALS Life Sciences Center, Center for Advanced Materials, Human Genome
Initiative, and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center. In
the 1980s, he spent significant time in Washington in support of DOE program
management activities in high energy and nuclear physics.

In recent years, he has focused on building environmental programs. He helped
to create--and served as interim director of--the Alameda Center for
Environmental Technologies (ACET) and facilitated the interdivisional SELECT
environmental software project.

Johnson said his immediate priorities will be to work with the divisions to
develop realistic plans for use of the Washington office and to fully equip it
for optimum efficiency, in particular network connections and other
infrastructure to facilitate interactions between researchers using the office
and the Berkeley Lab site.

"Our goal is to make it as easy for the Lab's program managers to do their work
from Washington as here, with the added advantage of timely access to their
clients," Johnson said.

Oddone also credited Dragnich for helping to launch the office, which began
shared operations with the Energy and Environment Division last summer. It is
located at 1250 Maryland Ave., S.W., and includes 7,700 square feet of offices,
conference rooms and workstations.

The 1996 Summer Lecture Series begins at noon on Wednesday, July 10, in the
Bldg. 50 auditorium. Designed for visiting students and teachers, the
non-technical brown-bag sessions are also open to Lab employees and friends.
For more information, contact the Public Information Department at X5771.

The following speakers had been scheduled at press time. All talks will take
place at noon Wednesdays in the Bldg. 50 auditorium, except for the Aug. 7
talk, which will take place in the Bldg. 66 auditorium. Watch Currents
for details about upcoming talks.

CAPTION: Helen Coleman shows off some of the goods now available from the
Employee Buying Service. The new items, which sport either the Lab logo or a
graphic of the Lab's home page, include T-shirts (white or tan, $7), polo
shirts ($16), sweatshirts ($15), and caps ($9). Coleman reports that sales are
already quite good, and that the tan T-shirts are selling very quickly.
Employee Buying Service hours are 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. daily in the cafeteria
lobby. Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt

Acting on the recommendation of UC President Richard Atkinson and a
strong show of support from the UC faculty leadership, the UC Board of Regents
has authorized the start of negotiations with DOE to continue its management of
the national laboratories at Berkeley, Livermore, and Los Alamos. The Regents'
unanimous action came on the heels of a 61-39 vote in favor of renewing the
contract by the academic senates of six of the nine campuses. The University
has managed the laboratories as a public service since their inception. In
related news, DOE Under Secretary Thomas Grumbly told reporters that the
negotiations with UC would be tough. He was especially critical of the health
and safety management record at Los Alamos, which has had three serious
accidents over the past 15 months, including one fatality. Grumbly said DOE
plans to build in "off-ramps" to UC's new contract that will allow the
Department to exit after one or two years if there is dissatisfaction. Grumbly
said DOE would like to complete the negotiations before the November election.
UC's current managerial contract expires in September 1997.

HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS:

Ruby Tebelak, head of the Technical and Electronic Information
Department, was awarded a professional degree by the University of
Missouri-Rolla during its 123rd Annual Commencement on Saturday, May 11.
Tebelak has been a member of the English Advisory Council since its inception,
and helped develop curriculum for the University's Technical Writing Program.

Gareth Thomas, a researcher in the Materials Sciences Division and
professor in the graduate school department of materials science and mineral
engineering at UC Berkeley, received an honorary doctorate of science degree
from Lehigh University in Allentown, Pa. The degree was conferred at the
university's commencement exercises on June 2.

In the face of a changing economic, cultural and social landscape
that is stretching the fabric of business practice, the achievement of
workforce diversity goals has never been more challenging. Nor has it had a
higher priority.

This was the consistent message brought to the Lab June 24 by a panel of
representatives from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Kaiser Permanente,
Hewlett Packard, and Berkeley Lab.

Moderator Ronita Johnson, of the Ronita Johnson and Associates management
consulting firm, noted significant progress made by firms in establishing
diversity programs since "Workforce 2000" issues began to be seen as national
business imperatives in the late 1980s. But times have changed, and business
conditions--downsizing and restructuring, changing clients and markets, and
philosophical challenges to affirmative action programs--have tested those
diversity efforts.

"The diversity concept is still widely confused," Johnson said. "The process of
diversity is an organizational choice; it is not mandated. And diversity must
be defined to include all employees, to maximize the potential of everyone."

Gloria Gilford-Logan, director of workforce diversity at Kaiser Permanente,
described her company's three diversity management initiatives that grew from a
1993-94 analysis--to target specific and diverse populations for services in
the marketplace, to deliver culturally competent health care that is sensitive
to the specific needs of targeted groups, and to enhance the diversity and
cultural competence of the Kaiser workforce.

Tommy Smith Jr., director of affirmative action and diversity at Livermore lab,
spoke critically of changing attitudes in the political arena "that lead to
less tolerance, and thinking that there's no longer a need to do special
things." He also pointed to fiscal constraints. "In the zeal to cut costs,
diversity efforts can suffer," he said.

Similarly, Sidalia Reel, diversity education program manager for
Hewlett-Packard, cited challenges even for an international corporate giant
with a reputation for employee-friendly policies. As company acquisitions and
an expanded marketplace have changed the client mix, implementing activities
that encourage and value diversity has become more complex.

"Management had to look at questions about their own accountability," Reel
said. "What we determined is that more training is not the answer. It's what
managers can personally do as role models, in mentoring, hiring and supporting.
We realize that you have to play a personal role in what is happening."

As economics drive organizations to focus more on cost-effectiveness,
"survivability" becomes an issue, according to Harry Reed, head of Berkeley
Lab's Work Force Diversity Office. And it is diversity programs, he said, that
enhance the survivability of an institution in times of rapid cultural and
social change.

"It's building bridges between our interactions at all levels," he said.
"(Equal opportunity laws) and affirmative action are not the same as managing
work force diversity, which is a process. It is developing our people to their
fullest potential." He also noted the office's mission to support the education
of future scientists and engineers, in particular addressing barriers and
inequities that have excluded underrepresented groups in science and math.

The discussion generated almost two dozen questions from the audience.

The session, held in the Bldg. 50 Auditorium, was recommended by the Lab's
Diversity Committee, endorsed by Director Charles Shank, and sponsored by the
Work Force Diversity Office.

The Berkeley Lab Calendar is published biweekly here on the World
Wide Web and in Currents by the Public Information Department.
Employees can list a meeting, class, or event in the Calendar by using this
submission form. The deadline for
submissions is 5 p.m. on Monday in the week that Currents is published.

MON., JULY 1

"Development and Physics of ECR Ion Source in Grenoble" will be
presented by Denis Hitz of the CEA, Grenoble, at 11 a.m. in the Bldg. 71
conference room.

EMPLOYEE MUSIC CLUB

Classical Group Rehearsal, 5-7 p.m. in the cafeteria, for info. contact
Wesley Steele at X7893.

TUES., JULY 2

PHYSICS DIVISION RESEARCH PROGRESS MEETING

"The Structure of the Proton and Diffraction in Deep Inelastic
Scattering at HERA" will be presented by Maria Teresa P. Roco of Deutsches
Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY Hamburg, Germany, at 4 p.m. in Bldg. 50A-5132;
refreshments, 3:40 p.m.

WED., JULY 3

EMPLOYEE MUSIC CLUB

Folk Group Rehearsal, 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the cafeteria, for info. contact
Larry Bell at X5406.

THURS., JULY 4

INDEPENDENCE DAY

FRI., JULY 5

OPEN CALENDAR

MON., JULY 8

BODYWORK

General Meeting at noon in the lower cafeteria

EMPLOYEE MUSIC CLUB

Classical Group Rehearsal, 5-7 p.m. in the cafeteria, for info. contact
Wesley Steele at X7893.

TUES., JULY 9

LIFE SCIENCES DIVISION SEMINAR

"Molecular Mechanisms of Breast Epithelial Cell Immortalization" will be
presented by Vimla Band of the New England Medical Center at 4 p.m. in the
Bldg. 66 Auditorium.

WED., JULY 10

EMPLOYEE MUSIC CLUB

General meeting at noon in the lower cafeteria

TOASTMASTERS'

General meeting at 12:10 p.m. in Bldg. 2-100

EMPLOYEE MUSIC CLUB

Folk Group Rehearsal, 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the cafeteria, for info. contact
Larry Bell at X5406.

THURS., JULY 11

SHOEMOBILE

7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. near Bldg. 77

AFRICAN AMERICAN EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION

General meeting at noon in Bldg. 90-1099.

SURFACE SCIENCE AND CATALYSIS SCIENCE SEMINAR

"Advances in the Microstructural Characterization of Poly (1-Alkenes):
New Tools for the Mechanistic Study of Heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta
Polymerizations" will be presented by Vincenzo Busico of the Universita di
Napoli, Italy, at 1:30 p.m. in the Bldg. 66 Auditorium.

FRI., JULY 12

SURFACE SCIENCE AND CATALYSIS SCIENCE SEMINAR

"Control of Selectivity in a Selective Oxidation Catalysis: Influence of
Spillover Species on Surface Reconstruction in the Oxido-Reduction Process"
will be presented by Bernard Delmon of the Universite Catholique de Louvain,
Belgium, at 1:30 p.m. in the Bldg. 66 Auditorium.

MON., JULY 15

EMPLOYEE MUSIC CLUB

Classical Group Rehearsal, 5-7 p.m. in the cafeteria, for info. contact
Wesley Steele at X7893.

TUES., JULY 16

OPEN CALENDAR

WED., JULY 17

TOASTMASTERS'

Officer's meeting at 12:10 p.m. in Bldg. 2-100

EMPLOYEE MUSIC CLUB

Folk Group Rehearsal, 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the cafeteria, for info. contact
Larry Bell at X5406.

THURS., JULY 18

SURFACE SCIENCE AND CATALYSIS SCIENCE SEMINAR

"The Ice Bilayer on Pt(111): Nucleation, Structure and Melting" will be
presented by Markus Morgenstern of Forschungszentrum Juelich (KFA), Germany, at
1:30 p.m. in the Bldg. 66 Auditorium.

PHYSICS DIVISION RESEARCH PROGRESS MEETING

"Review of the Snowmass Workshop" will be presented by Takeo Moroi and
Jose Pelaez of LBNL at 4 p.m. in Bldg. 50A-5132; refreshments, 3:40 p.m.

FRI., JULY 19

The University of California Retirement Plan (UCRP) recently announced a change
to the retirement age factors used in calculating monthly benefits under the
plan. This change, effective Jan. 1, 1997, will favorably impact monthly
pension amounts for covered employees age 55 years 4 months and above.
Employees under this age, and those above age 60, will not be impacted by this
change.

Employees may access the new age factors on the World Wide Web at
http://www.ucop.edu/bencom/ under the heading of "What's New" on that page.
Employees may also contact the Benefits Office at X6403.

Currently, Benefits is not able to provide individualized computer-generated
estimates of the new retirement benefits because the latest factors have yet to
be incorporated into the Benefits Counseling System (BCS) by UC. Once this
happens, individualized estimates will once again be available through
Benefits. Watch Currents for details.

The Office of Sponsored Research Administration (OSRA), under the
administration of the Chief Financial Office since February, has been renamed
the CFO/Sponsored Projects Office (CFO/SPO), effective June 1. Acting OSRA
manager Jeff Weiner has been named manager of SPO. He may be reached at
X7143.